Core
by Jayfish
Summary: She should be enjoying her freedom. If only she can ignore the Guard Dog of Aperture, relentlessly hunting her down. If only she can stay away from the business tycoon who wants Aperture all to himself. If only she can avoid the corrupted Cores, especially the one that tried to kill her. If only she can stay away from GLaDOS, and Aperture. It's really too bad that she can't.
1. The Heroes and their Musings

The sky was azure, so blue that it burned itself into her eyes and fluttered in her gaze even when her eyelids were shut. The stench of wheat was overpowering and Chell felt her back arch as she emptied the contents of her stomach onto the ground. It was too much to take in all at once; the visual stimulus alone would take several hours to _really _get used to, and she couldn't say how long it would be before the stench ceased to turn her stomach.

Now there was the sour, acid reek of vomit to contend with. Wiping her mouth clumsily with the back of her hand, she stumbled backwards and her legs buckled, forcing her into a sitting position on her Companion Cube. The gritty blackness that served as a reminder of the Cube's stint in the incinerator was rubbing onto her orange jumpsuit. Slowly, she rubbed her finger in the stuff and when she pulled it away the tip was black.

The fact that the Cube had managed to survive made her feel somewhat better about the situation. Despite the fact that it had never done anything but hum on occasion, she considered it a friend, the _one _thing that had not yet tried to brutally murder her with spike plates and fire and neurotoxin. She gave it a reassuring pat and her palm came away black.

Craning her neck, Chell turned and glanced at the shed. It was an unassuming shed with a boring exterior; she never would have guessed that anything of worth remained behind those faded doors. Seized by an impulse she couldn't explain, she got to her feet and went to the doors, giving one of them a stout tug. As she'd suspected, the door remained stubbornly shut, and it went so far as to screech at her when she tried again.

Well. GLaDOS had made it all too clear that she did not want Chell to return. And Chell didn't _want _to return (right?) so there was no harm in that. She turned back to her Companion Cube and raised an eyebrow. Wafting on the slight breeze was a static-riddled rendition of the song the turrets had just performed for her. The Cube could not form words (had never been able to form words) but the tune was the same. She _almost _smiled, but the facial muscles required for smiling had long since forgotten their task, and she found that she couldn't quite do it.

Maybe now that she was here, on the surface of the world, she would find more reason to smile. There was nothing gladdening about Aperture, even if her "best friend" was hiding in the facility, no doubt watching her and hoping she would leave. Chell didn't think that best friends had the same kind of relationship that she and GLaDOS did. Seeing as said relationship had evolved through heavy doses of attempted murder, Chell hoped that the relationship was unique.

She opened her mouth, wishing she could say _something _to her Cube. Maybe it was sentient, maybe not. She had never been able to tell and to a certain extent she had no desire to find out. It had been incinerated and if it _was _sentient the experience had doubtless been extremely awful. She wished for that familiar weight on her arm, the portal device that could hoist the Cube into the air as easily as if it were made of paper.

No, that was gone and it wasn't coming back. GLaDOS had been willing to return the Companion Cube, but the portal device? The AI wasn't stupid; she was much too cautious to return the device Chell had wreaked so much havoc with.

_No portals, _thought Chell, and reached to her waist. Her orange jumpsuit top was still there; it had somehow survived the trip to space. (To be fair, _Chell _had survived the trip to space, and that was quite the accomplishment.) The arms needed a bit of stretching, but Chell was a strong woman and she was perfectly capable of such a task. In a few short moments, the top was much too stretched out to fit her again, but the sleeves were probably long enough.

She studied the Cube for a moment before sitting down next to it, her back against one of the sides. Slinging the top around the back of the Cube, she tied the arms around her waist. Almost immediately, they rode up to her stomach and cut into her skin. _So it's going to hurt. Can't say I expected better._

Getting to her feet was hell. The Cube was so much heavier than it looked, especially since she was so used to carrying it with the portal device. The corners dug into her ribcage, and she gave a tiny gasp. Instinctively she glanced around, half-expecting an irritating slow clap to emanate from the speakers. It took a moment to remember that there were no speakers out here, and no AI to use them.

She glanced up at the sky, feeling the tiniest bit sentimental. Somewhere, spinning in the endless void of darkness that was _space_, two Cores floated. One of them was probably squealing in delight; his vocal processor would short out if he kept it up. And the other… the other Core…

_This is no time to be sentimental, _she thought busily, adjusting the Cube on her back. She was going to twist her spine like this, but there was no way she was leaving the Cube behind. It had survived this long, and if she left it lying in front of the shed, she had a feeling the GLaDOS would recover it. The idea of her Cube being dragged back to Aperture was almost too much for her to bear.

The first step was truly awful, and she nearly buckled under the weight. The arms of her jumpsuit cut so viciously into her stomach that she thought she might throw up again. It was only when she realized that the jumpsuit would snap in time that she took another step. By the time her jumpsuit wore out, she wanted to be in civilization, or at the very least close to civilization. She could always leave the Cube and come back for it later.

The next step wasn't half as bad, and the third even less painful than that. There it was again, that blazing determination that made failure a non-option. She was _Chell. _If there was anyone who could survive this situation, anyone at all, then it was her.

She would make it, and she wouldn't even have to die trying.

* * *

_Ping._

_ Sleep Mode disabled._

_ Test Subject #1 is on unauthorized leave from the facility. Test Subject has removed Companion Cube #1498 from facility._

_ Apprehend Test Subject and return both to facility as quickly as time allows._

* * *

GLaDOS had never been the sentimental type. Even with that _Caroline _woman floating around in her programming, she had kept such pathetic urges to a minimum. Still, with the removal of Chell from her facility, GLaDOS had made the spur-of-the-moment decision to return the Companion Cube. She didn't entirely understand her motivations for doing so (and she couldn't chalk them up to the deleted Caroline, either.) It would make sense for her to be celebrating right now. The mute lunatic was no longer a part of her facility, and would not be returning to bother her.

And that was just it. Every _single _time she reminded herself that Chell was gone for good, she felt a shudder run through her gears and plates. At first she had attributed it to a shudder of excitement, but she wasn't excited. Then she had assumed it had been some sort of primal, instinctual shudder of relief: a dangerous predator had been eliminated. But GLaDOS was no animal, and as far as she knew her programming held no basic animal instincts. It was fast becoming too irritating to bear, and yet she found that her _massive _brain of sorts would not stop straying back to Chell.

The testing was going smoothly. The Orange and Blue robots were fun to watch, and currently the "itch" was not bothering her. She knew it would come back, of course, but at the moment it didn't concern her. No, the only concern was the shudder in her gears, and the thoughts of the human she'd only just punted to the surface.

The instinct to check the cameras on the shed was hard to ignore. GLaDOS was extremely curious to know what had happened to the little human she'd grown to… well, not _like, _but respect. Yes, that was it, she _respected _Chell. She respected Chell's tenacity and her seeming inability to die. Both were traits that she herself possessed.

She swung in her chassis idly, still actively resisting the urge to peek at Chell's going-ons aboveground. The human's life was no longer of any concern to her. No doubt Chell would go on to create a life for herself, fall in love (ridiculous), procreate (truly disgusting), and then she would die for good and GLaDOS would never have to worry about her ever again.

And there it was, that shudder. It was beginning to feel uncomfortable and she wished it would stop. With a hum of annoyance, she went back to poring over her own data files. She had never enjoyed reading her own files; it felt strange and awkward. The shuddering had grown to be too much of a nuisance to ignore, however, and the act had become all too necessary. She was prepared to spend several hours on the task, and was actually _planning _on doing it, but a voice came on over the speakers and she froze.

"Test Subject #1 has taken unauthorized leave from the facility," the Announcer told her.

_Oh, _GLaDOS thought. _I neglected to authorize Chell's departure. _It wasn't as if it mattered, anyway. The Party Bot had brought Chell back the last time (she'd downloaded its memories before tossing it on the scrap heap) but this time there was nothing in the facility that would take note of the human's departure. "Companion Cube #1498 was removed by Test Subject #1."

"I'm aware of that," GLaDOS snapped, mostly because the Announcer's voice was interrupting her reading session. "Is there anything _useful _you have to tell me?"

The Announcer continued blithely on, completely unaware of her annoyance. "GDA has been employed to apprehend Test Subject #1."

There was a moment, after the Announcer faded away, during which GLaDOS was unaware of the trouble she was about to be put through. _GDA? _she thought, pulling up the files. _What is… oh._

The "oh" signified that she had gotten the files, and one glance at them reminded her as to GDA's identity and purpose. "No!" she screeched, searching for her cameras. With a rush of static, the speakers connected, and she spoke into them in the hopes that GDA was still loitering in the facility (unlikely, but possible.) "Test Subject #1 and Companion Cube #1498 are authorized for leave!" she exclaimed, her voice colored with desperation. "There's no need for them to be apprehended!"

The cameras were working. Her optic flared as said cameras swiveled, tracking the movement of an unmistakably human figure. _Chell? _No, it was that _android, _masquerading as a human in order to get by in the human world. Androids had been outlawed when it had become impossible to tell them apart from regular humans, but (according to records) Cave Johnson had been adamant that the Guard Dog Android remain. Apparently he'd been proud of the creation.

All GLaDOS could feel about it, as she watched it stalk through the wheat in the direction of the human, was hatred.

* * *

"SPAAACE~!"

Wheatley sighed. The sound was a mix of static and apprehension. He'd been here for what, a day? And there was no sign of rescue, no Apple, nothing but the singing Space Core and the twinkling stars that were probably bunches of miles away.

And through all this hardship and whatnot, here he was feeling awful and guilty and just _pretty bad _about this whole situation. "My fault," he mumbled, shuddering as the sound died. There was no one to hear him except that _moron _Spacey. Wheatley was taken with the idea of giving everyone names. There was Her, the evil AI who had tried to kill him (and very nearly succeeded) Spacey (the nickname was obvious) and Apple. It was hard thinking about Apple, because whenever he thought about her he remembered her hands all over his handle, and he was screaming something about her _letting go, _and being dragged into the darkness, just so he could save his own skin.

Not that he had skin. Made of metal, he was a robot. Right, of course. The point was that he could survive in space a lot better than Apple could. And then he'd tried to kill her, to smash her into little chunks of smelly human. _Not _that humans were smelly, no, they smelled lovely, like… cologne. Yes. All humans smelled like cologne.

"Humans smell like SPAAAACE!" Bugger, he hadn't even known he was speaking out loud. Spacey had a habit of responding to the strangest comments that emanated from Wheatley's speakers.

He had been thinking about Apple. He'd decided that her name would be Apple ever since she had shown him how obviously brain damaged she was. He would have told her about the name but to be honest he'd been a _teensy _bit scared she'd hurt him. He was just being careful! Besides, in the end it wasn't Apple who turned traitor, it was him…

"I'm so sorry," he said, flipping his handle idly. It was so easy to apologize when she wasn't staring him down, brown eyes narrowed in an expression that could only be described as _right bloody terrifying. _If they ever did meet again (unlikely) she'd probably smash him, rip off his handle, punch out his optic, pull out his inner wiring.

He'd liked Apple for a while there. Still liked her, in fact. But that didn't change the fact that he was so incredibly scared of her (mainly because of that bit where he'd tried to kill her) that he was almost glad he was in space. He'd thought that She had been bad, but he had a feeling that an angry Apple had the capability to be worse than even She could be.

"Sorry!" he said again, quickly. "That was rude. You're nothin' like Her, love, you're better than that. Sorry, love! Sorry!" The bleated pleas for forgiveness had become his lifeline to Aperture, his anchor. There was this fantasy he'd come up with an hour or so ago (how long had he been here again?) that was _really _wonderful and happy and everything turned out great. Somehow or other he managed to float back to the moon (Spacey helped, maybe?) and there was a portal there and he was sucked in, right into Apple's arms. And she wasn't glaring or angry. Actually, she was cuddling him against her chest and maybe even _crying _a little, like she was so worried about him being damaged. And he would say, really cool, "No worries, love, no worries. I'm fine, right? It's you who's the priority. You're number one. You've always been my number one."

And then, of course, he would be forgiven and all would be well.

"Forgive Jupiter," Spacey chattered. "Forgive Apple Sun white dwarf space. We're in space. You know? Space. Space space. Space space space. Space."

Wheatley gave another exaggerated sigh. "Right, mate, we're in space. I know."

"You know? You know what? You know what!"

"Space?"

"Space."

"I thought so." Wheatley flipped his handle and thankfully began to move a bit farther from Spacey. He didn't want to be alone out here (the idea was horrifying) but he needed some _space _from _Spacey. _Heheh, space from Spacey. That was a good one. He'd tell it to Apple when he got back…

Except he wasn't ever going to come back, and even if he did, Apple would hate him and wouldn't have time for his little pun. Actually, he could probably slip it in between smashes, but it was a context thing and she probably wouldn't laugh or anything.

He was getting a bit too close to that satellite. At first it'd been hard to notice because it was black and so was everything else, but Spacey had pointed it out to him earlier and now he was going towards it at a speed a bit _too _fast for his liking. _Alright Wheatley, think. How to slow down, how to slow down… oh! Got it! Spin my handle! Okay, okay, that's not working. Spin it faster? No—hey? What?!_

He had gotten much too close to the black satellite. As he neared the surface his optic focused on a large round tube on the side, just wide enough to encompass him. He was reminded of an image he had seen during his corruption (probably from Craig, the Fact Core), of some kind of undersea vessel. It had little vacuum-tubes on the outside for sucking up little sea-fishes and things, and they would stay in holding tanks inside the vessel until it returned to the surface.

It took him a full thirty seconds to make the connection, and by that time he'd already been sucked inside.

"Hey! Oy! Is anybody in here!" The holding space was tiny; there was barely enough room for him to swivel his optic, let alone move his handle. "Oy! Hello?"

"Space. Space. Bored of space. Gonna go home? Gonna go home gonna go home gonna go home?"

"Hey. Who the—oh wonderful, it's the space guy." Wheatley recognized the husky voice as that of Rick, the Adventure Core.

"Fact: the Space Core will soon be returning to Earth."

"Oh, shut up, Craig!" Rick exclaimed, and Wheatley could hear the rattling no doubt coming from Rick's holding space. "Give us one fact that's _relevant. _Just one. Come on, I dare you."

It appeared as though the entire lot of them had been sucked into this strange machine. There was no doubt that it was from Earth, but who had sent it in the first place? Wheatley didn't think Apple wanted him back _this _badly… unless she'd done it all for another Core? A hot wave of jealousy clouded his vision for a moment. Who did she want back? Craig? Rick, it was probably Rick. Rick was so good with women. But maybe Apple preferred the exuberant Spacey…

None of that mattered if it wasn't Apple who had sent the machine. And it probably wasn't Apple, because Wheatley was pretty sure she couldn't pull this all together in a day. That probably meant that someone had invested lots of money in a machine to get _real live _organisms from space… and had sucked up a bunch of malfunctioning Cores instead.

His casing rattled slightly. The three corrupted Cores were still chattering outside, but he managed to ignore the dithering. He was going home. He was going home to Apple, once he'd sorted out this mess with the satellite and explained to the owner what had happened. It would be alright. He was Wheatley. He could sort out anything, even Apple! Maybe not Apple…

Home. Home! His casing shivered again, and his optic swirled. Wheatley had made a lot of mistakes and missteps in his life, and he knew he deserved every bad thing he got. But right now, with the knowledge that Earth was within his grasp and that he was finally safe, he felt on top of the world. Nothing, he decided, with a rattle of his mostly non-mobile handle, could ever get better than this.

* * *

Nothing, Vulp decided, could ever get worse than this.

"What do you _mean, _balls of metal?" he snarled at his secretary, tugging at the roots of his black hair. He knew exactly what Nix meant, but the disappointment was making him repeat himself. He'd spent _all that money _on the damn satellite, and he gets this? A bunch of round metal balls that were _obviously _Earth-made? They were probably somebody else's cheap satellites, and now all the holding tanks in his satellite were filled. He had no choice, he'd have to bring it back to Earth, dump the mini-satellites, and re-launch his own satellite.

"Yes, sir," Nix said, reiterating her point. "Round metal balls. We have live footage from the satellite, if you'd like to see it."

Vulp sighed, leaning back in his desk chair. To think that people actually had the gall to say that his job was _easy! _Since when had being the CEO of a major company like Scorptech been easy? Sometimes he imagined dropping one of those loudmouthed ignoramuses in his place for a day, see how _they _liked it. Heh, they'd never be able to do what he did. Which was why he was making money and had his own skyscraper, and they slummed around in little towns and in the country. Ne'er-do-wells.

"Yeah, stream it to the wall screen," he said, nodding at his secretary. She backed out of the room, probably wanting to get away before he got _really _angry. Vulp had never been so good with anger management. It was just, when he was angry… it was like, say, life gives you lemons? Most people just go with that. No, nope, that had never worked for Vulp. When life gave _him _lemons, he pulverized them. With a meat tenderizer. Sometimes Nix shouted encouraging things from the sidelines.

The screen had booted up. With a blip, the blankness was replaced with a live video of the inside of one of the holding tanks on the satellite. For a moment, Vulp was crushed with disappointment. Just as Nix had said, the tank was filled up with a useless metal ball that had an annoying floppy handle.

And then the ball managed to flip over, and Vulp was staring into a brilliant blue eye.

The thrill of wonder ran down his spine, freezing him in place. He _knew _that eye. Well, not specifically, but he knew the concept that had gone into creating it. The Personality Cores, of _course. _From Aperture.

How had several Aperture Personality Cores gotten into space?

The worst part was that he didn't care. He wanted those Cores down here right now. Waiting was not an option. "Nix!" he screeched, bouncing up and down on the chair in excitement. "Come here! This is important! Nix! Niiiix!"

"I'm here!" she exclaimed, breathless and flushed. "Whatever is the matter, sir?" Without answering, he jabbed his finger at the screen. For a moment, she stared at the eye, her face enraptured. A tiny smile graced her features.

"_Sir," _she said, breathless again. "Is that—what I think it is?"

"An Aperture Personality Core," Vulp replied, his tone smug. "I have no idea how they got there, and I don't really care. Make sure they come down _gently, _right? I don't want them getting broken."

"Of course, sir," said Nix, hurrying from the room. Vulp breathed loudly from his nose and closed his eyes. Nix would take care of this. She was the only employee at Scorptech who knew of his quest, his search, the fruitless hours of hunting.

At last, at long last, he'd found a link to Aperture. With these Cores in his grasp, it was only a matter of time until he knew where the main facility was. And once he was in possession of _that _information, well… It was best that he not get ahead of himself.

Inside a different holding tank, a Core with a green eye rattled. Vulp watched it, smiling beatifically with his fingers laced into steeples.

_Come on, Cores… Come down to Earth… And we'll have a grand old time… I promise._


	2. Chell and the Betrayals

There had been a point during her imprisonment in Aperture that Chell reflected on the difference between being paranoid and being cautious. Was it _paranoid _to consider the fact that any door could be hiding a platoon of turrets? Was it _cautious _that she made sure there was nothing nasty lurking behind the emancipation grills before she entered them? She hadn't been able to make a distinction between the two. At the time it had bothered her.

Now, though, all she could think about was whether or not there was something following her, and what the proper course of action would be in that situation.

She was walking quickly, and still she was quite sure she could hear it. A crackling of wheat stalks being snapped, mowed down by something moving faster than her. Adrenaline was pumping through her veins, and she clenched her fists. She had learned that it was unwise to hesitate. Taking time to stock the situation was a good thing, but she had already determined that there was danger and it was coming _fast. _

She took off through the wheat and the crackling behind her seemed to increase in speed. A wave of betrayal shot through her and she nearly doubled over, but instinct kept her moving at a fast pace. _Is this GLaDOS' toy? _she thought, gritting her teeth. _Does GLaDOS want me back after all? Or does she want an absolute assurance that I'm dead?_

The wheat parted as she bulled through it and she realized that she had made it to a gap between fields, the border made distinct by a river running between them. Without hesitation she plunged into the water. It came up to her waist and she jerked up her back, trying to keep the Cube from touching it. She had no idea how the Cube worked, but getting it wet might kill it.

The thought made a grin of triumph spread across her face. If the thing following her was GLaDOS' creature, water would destroy it. The river was much too wide to simply jump across, and deep enough to prove a problem to even the most industrious of robots.

With a gasp, she flung herself on the opposite bank and whipped her head around. To her surprise, there was nothing on the opposite bank but serenely waving fronds of wheat. As she watched, the wheat jerked sporadically, suggesting a presence. She caught a glimpse of a surprisingly human figure, and took a step back. _If that's a human, I'm not safe. _The figure did not come closer, and with a flash of what seemed to be a colorless eye, it sank back into the anonymity of the stalks.

So she was safe, then. She took a step away from the river anyway, preparing for a surprise attack. When nothing was forthcoming, she released a breath she hadn't known she was holding and padded into the new field, listening carefully for any sign of pursuit. If _that _was the only thing following her, it would probably take several hours for it to find a way to ford the river safely. By that time, Chell would be long gone.

Had it been a human? She didn't think someone so bent on pursuit would give up at the sight of a little water. So it was a robot? Chell had never heard of a human-robot before. Then again, she hadn't really seen it. It might have been designed to resemble a human from far away.

It didn't really matter what it _was. _The worrisome question was its motivations. Why was it hunting her down? Was it a simple case of mistaken identity? Doubtful. This place seemed deserted; Chell had begun to fear that she was the only human being for miles. It was definitely looking for _her, _then. Why?

Several ideas flitted into her head, all of them involving a crazed AI with a thirst for blood. Was GLaDOS rethinking her decision of letting Chell go? It was very possible that the computer wanted to know for a fact that Chell would never come back. Still, GLaDOS hadn't killed her in the lift; it would have been relatively simple and more effective than sending a water-fearing robot after her. Why would GLaDOS change her decision?

Maybe GLaDOS wanted her back as a test subject. But the computer had two perfectly viable sources of information at her disposal now; Chell really wasn't necessary.

A third option flickered into her mind, and it made her stop dead. Maybe… just maybe… GLaDOS wanted her back because she genuinely _liked _her? The thought made her huff, and not only because it was stupid. If that were the case, why would GLaDOS have let her go in the first place? If that were the case, why would GLaDOS have tried to kill her so many times?

No, GLaDOS obviously hated her and wanted her dead, or at the very least out of the way. The thought made a lump in her throat which she swallowed painfully. She had _literally _no friends. It wouldn't be so bad, but the one friend she'd really liked had ended up trying to murder her. _He _had shattered any sense of trust she'd ever possessed. Chell could never look at someone and just _assume _that they were trustworthy, not anymore. Everyone was a potential enemy, and she would find it difficult to treat them as anything else.

Betrayed, betrayed, betrayed. Every "friend" she'd ever had ended up betraying her. It was disheartening. What bothered her the most was how _upset _she was getting. What had she expected, honestly? This was GLaDOS, not the Hugs Machine. Why had she decided that GLaDOS was going to leave her alone?

Why, for a moment there, had she thought that GLaDOS really was her friend?

* * *

It had taken her several hours and three more river crossings, but at last Chell had left the last of the wheat fields behind her.

For a moment, she wanted to slip back into the wheat. The stalks that had irritated her seemed much safer than what she was seeing now. The bright color of the sky had tricked her into believing there was no grime in this outside world, no dirt or muck. This little town had vastly revised her hypothesis.

None of the houses seemed new. In fact, most of them seemed ancient, with peeling paint and dirt splayed all over the cracked windows. All over there were huge bladed machines with bodies of black chrome. She would assume that the machines were farming equipment, but she'd been underground for so long that she really had no idea. Tentatively, she took a step forward, and an explosion of sound shattered the silence. She moved back hastily as a black and brown figure hurtled towards her. She recognized the sound it was making as furious barking. _Dog. _She hadn't seen a living animal in a long time, if you didn't count the birds that had made short work of GLaDOS. (She didn't.)

The dog had reached her. It had a skinny tail that was waving madly. Fluidly, it jumped onto its hind legs, pressing its front paws into her stomach. It had a fat pink tongue that was out, licking at her outstretched hand.

Slowly, she moved her hand to the dog's head. It barked again and flopped to the ground, rolling onto its back and presenting her its belly. She kneeled down beside it and gave it a rub. Wriggling, it demanded more and she found herself petting the dog with a repetitive motion of her hand. It was warm underneath her fingers and she felt strangely at peace with the animal.

"Hey! What do you think yer doin' with my Reggie?"

Her head jerked up, her hand pausing in its endless circle. A stout woman with her hand on her hips stood behind Chell, her face red with disapproval. Her beady eyes narrowed as she took in the young woman, and widened abruptly. "Hey!" she exclaimed. "You ain't from around here!"

Chell shook her head, legs poised to run. If this woman wanted trouble she was going to get out before it started. To her surprise, the woman rolled her eyes.

"Well thank the good Lord fer that," she said. "Everybody round here's a buncha dirty thieves. Trying ta steal my Reggie at all hours of the morning."

Chell grimaced, and pointed at her tongue. She flapped her jaw and drew a finger over her throat, hoping the exclamation would suffice.

The woman cocked her head. "Whatcha saying, ya can't talk? Mute?" Chell nodded quickly and the woman clapped a hand to her mouth.

"Well isn't _that _a shame!" she said, bustling forward and grabbing Chell by the arm. "Come on home with me; we'll get ya out of those dirty clothes quick enough!"

Chell felt herself being dragged to her feet. Instinct told her to rip her arm out of the woman's grasp, but that might be an unforgiveable faux pas and she didn't think it was necessary to risk it. This fat woman couldn't _really _harm her, and would be easy to run away from.

"My name's Janis," the woman told her, still dragging Chell past the chrome machines and towards one of the larger (still decrepit) houses. "What's yer—oh, right, ya can't say." She gave a high pitched giggle. "Sorry 'bout that, I ain't used ta having _mutes _over fer dinner. Haw haw!" Chell smiled uncomfortably.  
This was the first human being she had seen in a long, long time. The experience was supposed to be novel for her, exciting and strange and wonderful. The only thing she could feel right now was suspicion, and a slight sense of annoyance towards the woman who was currently wrenching her arm out of its socket.

"This here's the homestead!" Janis exclaimed, halting in front of a flaking red door. She looked as though she was going to knock on the door, and then her face went rigid. "Land sakes, what's _that?_" Her finger was pointing at the Companion Cube, still strapped to Chell's back.

Chell shrugged painfully and pointed at her mouth again. Janis nodded, but she looked unsatisfied. _She really wants to know, _Chell thought, and felt a surge of protectiveness for her Cube. _It'll be fine; I won't let anyone take it, or get too close, _Chell reminded herself. _I failed the Cube once, and I'm not going to do it again._

Janis rapped the door with her knuckles. "Bert! Get out here! We're having a guest over for supper!" For a moment, there was silence, and then shifting could be heard from inside the house.

"What're ya talking about?" a voice roared. "We ain't had a guest over in twenty years, ya old bat!"

"Get out here and open yer eyes, old man!" Janis called, her voice at an equal volume. "It's a girl ain't from around here!"

"Ain't from around here?" The voice sounded closer to the door, and then it was banged open. In the doorway stood a man around Janis' age, with a huge moustache and piggy eyes surrounded by the red skin of a man in bad health. He looked at her and grimaced. "Who're you?"

"She's mute, Bert," Janis exclaimed, her voice making it sound as though it was obvious. "And just _look _at her wet clothes!" Her finger poked at Chell's chest. Bert glanced at her for a moment, and then nodded.

"Fine. She can stay for supper. I don't suppose you've got a place to sleep?" This question was directed at Chell, who shook her head. Bert rolled his eyes. "Fine," he exclaimed again. "You can sleep on the couch."

He moved away from the doorway and Janis grabbed Chell's shoulder, pulling her into the house. Chell's eyes adjusted to the dim light inside and she took in a messy sitting room, complete with a couch that seemed covered in a thick layer of dirt. She swallowed. Perhaps taking her chances with the carpet would be a better option. Something scuttled past her foot and she bit her lip. Maybe she'd just stick with the couch.

The dining room and kitchen were combined into one, and piled high with dirty dishes. The smell of rot was overpowering, and a platoon of flies bounced against the glass, trying in vain to escape into the light outside. "Come on," Janis said. "Bert will stay here. He's got a phone call to make, to his _mom. _Right, Bert?"

Bert looked at her for a moment. "Yeah," he said slowly. "Ya don't have ta go shouting it to the whole world."

"Just making sure ya remember!" Janis said. "I'm gonna take this young lady to the back room, get her out of these wet clothes and get that _thing _off her back." Chell felt a moment of panic, but it quelled quickly. Janis wasn't going to _take _the Cube; she was only going to remove it from Chell's immediate person. Chell's back hurt anyway.

Janis led Chell up a set of rickety stairs and into a small room. Copies of paintings hung on the wall, and the room seemed neater than the others. "This was my daughter's room, bless her soul," Janis said wistfully, pushing Chell onto the clean white bed. "She went off to make her fortune, haven't seen her since. I don't know what Bert was saying earlier, you can have this room fer the time being." She smiled broadly.

Chell grinned back tentatively. The feeling of her facial muscles stretching was almost painful. Had she _ever _smiled during her stay at Aperture? Sure, there must have been a time. Maybe during the time that she was with _him… _And then her smile evaporated and her muscles went tense. Even thinking about him hurt. He'd thoroughly ruined her.

Janis didn't seem to notice the sudden change in mood. She had moved to Chell's back and was busily untying the jumpsuit keeping the Cube in place. "Now, I know ya can't tell me what this fancy machinery is for," she said, "but I'm _mighty _curious. Lookit you, with all these nasty marks!" She prodded at the indentations the Cube had made on Chell's back. The areas were tender and Chell bit her lip to avoid making a protesting sound. "Wonder what's so important 'bout that square thing," Janis said.

The Cube was now sitting on the bed. Chell turned around and put her hand directly over one of the hearts on its side. Although the Cube was not humming, she could feel slight vibrations underneath her palm. _Don't worry, _she wanted to tell it. _I'll take care of you, I promise. _The Cube she _knew _was her friend, someone she could really trust. The fact that it couldn't stab her in the back really did help, after all.

Chell looked back at Janis. The woman had watched the interaction with her jaw hanging open. Squaring her shoulders, Chell pointed at the Cube and then at a corner of the room, next to a bureau. _It should be safe there for a few hours._

"Ya want to move it over there? Well sure, if that's whatcha want." Janis extended her arms towards the Cube and Chell felt the protectiveness again. Shaking her head, she wrapped her own arms around the Cube. Lifting it was a challenge, and she felt her knees buckle. Abruptly there was flesh against her own; Janis had wrapped her arms around Chell's waist. With Janis holding her tightly, Chell managed to stagger towards the designated corner. The Cube slipped from her grasp and thudded to the floor, slotting neatly into its new position. Anxiously, Chell tapped it to feel for injury, and was relieved when the vibrations came flooding into her skin. It was alright.

Giving the Cube a reassuring pat, she got to her feet. Janis still looked mystified, but the woman could get no answers from Chell. After a moment, Janis broke free of her reverie and clapped her hands together. "Okay," she said. "We need to get ya some nice new clothes!" She moved towards the closet set in the wall. "I'm sure Teresa left some of her things when she left… mebbe some of them'll fit ya!"

Chell picked at her tank top. She had a sort of attachment to it, seeing as she'd been wearing it for a while. Besides, it was the only thing she had left of the facility, that and the Companion Cube and her long fall boots. She'd assumed that she'd want to forget all about Aperture, but now that she was here on the surface she found that she didn't want to. Her adventures belowground had stolen a spot in her heart and in her mind, and it wouldn't do to forget them.

"Lookee here!" Janis crowed. "This dress looks like it was made fer ya! C'mon over and try it on!" Chell raised an eyebrow at the monstrosity of fabric that Janis was waving in the air. The yellow color resembled pus or vomit, and it was clear that the starch on the dress would be torturous against her skin. But it would be rude to refuse the woman's generosity. Chell didn't care about rudeness, but she had no reason to anger Janis and she was going to try and avoid doing so. She hadn't had any food all day and her stomach was beginning to pinch. If she was going to take off the dress, it would be after she had a good meal in her.

Janis tossed the fabric at her, and she caught it deftly. "I'll leave ya ta change," Janis said. "Gimme yer wet clothes and I'll put 'em on the line for ya." Chell had no idea what "the line" was, but Janis had already left and she wasn't sure how to translate that question into hand motions anyway.

She stripped off the bottom half of her jumpsuit, and her tank top. Leaving them on the bed, she held the dress before her and tried to make sense of the cut. It would have a very high neck, that much was obvious. It was almost certainly going to be unflattering. Chell couldn't care less about her appearance. What bothered her was the dress' stiffness and general lack of give. If she ended up having to run, the dress was going to make things difficult for her.

Slipping into the dress was a bit of a challenge, but Chell was a master of challenges and this was not something that would trip her up. The dress caught at her throat and the cuffs of the short sleeves were tight enough to prevent circulation. Rubbing her arms vigorously, she glanced at the hem and was startled to find that it barely came up to her knees. "Teresa" must have been a very small woman, or a very promiscuous one.

She was not going to take off her long fall boots. Janis hadn't offered her any alternative footwear, and the boots were too useful to leave behind. They'd saved her life on several occasions, and she was too used to jumping from great heights to stop doing it now.

Leaving her clothes behind on the bed, she exited the room and moved towards the rickety stairs. She took one step and was surprised that the stairs didn't squeal as they had when she ascended them. Her long fall boots worked wonders in nullifying the irritating sound.

She was halfway down the stairs when she heard the rasp of whispered voices. She was too used to GLaDOS and her tricks to ignore this. Flattening herself against the wall, she cocked her head and closed her eyes. "… upstairs getting changed," Janis was saying.

"Good," Bert exclaimed. "We've gotta keep her occupied 'till the guys from Scorptech come ta pick her up."

"Jus' think of it," Janis said. "Runt from _Aperture Laboratories _comes right ta me. How much they offering for information on Aperture again?"

"Lotta cash," Bert said. "That head of Scorptech's real curious 'bout Aperture. Real curious."

The breath caught in Chell's throat. _Oh no, no, not again. This cannot be happening. _

"I'm gonna go get her and bring her down here fer supper," Janis said. Chell heard the screech of a chair being moved aside, and a panic blossomed in her chest. She moved backwards and bolted back upstairs. At the end of the hallway, an open window beckoned. Putting on a burst of speed, she reached the window and swung out, dropping easily onto the ground. The starchy dress fluttered and she remembered that her clothes were still on the bed upstairs. She stamped her foot in frustration. The Aperture logo had been clearly stamped on the front of her chest for everyone to see. If only she'd _realized _that people were hunting for Aperture. If only she'd used her _head._

There was no time for her to be acting childish. She'd made a mistake and now she was going to rectify it. The first thing she needed to do was hide. If the "guys from Scorptech" were coming to pick her up, she didn't want to run right into them. She'd stay safely hidden until they went away. Then she would flee. With her new clothes, she'd be unrecognizable. She'd be safe, and so would Aperture and GLaDOS and the beautiful turret opera.

Where to hide, where to… Ah. Next to one of the other houses was an old shed, similar to the one that housed the lift to Aperture. Heart hammering, she bolted towards the shed, only realizing when she was halfway there that she had company. Reggie the dog was capering along beside her, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Perhaps Janis and Bert didn't pet him often enough, and he preferred her. Whatever the reason, he seemed perfectly happy to stick with her.

She reached the shed and tore open the door. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness inside, she noticed a stack of burlap bags filled with… well, she really didn't know. Slamming the door behind her, she dove into the stack, wriggling until none of her limbs were poking out. Vaguely she realized that Reggie had wormed himself into the stack as well. Sniffing her elbow, he gave it a lick and then whined. Knowing what he wanted, Chell managed to get her hand on his head. Petting idly, she poked her nose out of the stack, in the direction of one of the shed's grimy windows. She wanted to see this.

After a few moments of watching, Bert tore out of the house, looking frantic. She could see him shouting, pulling at his hair. He moved around to the back of the house, face red. She felt a tiny smirk creep up her face.

The smirk died at the sound of cars. As she watched, three sleek automobiles roared into the small town, sun glinting off their black surfaces. They were streamlined and quite obviously _extremely _fast, judging from the clouds of dirt that had erupted in their wake. A fourth automobile moved to join them; a massive black truck with gigantic tires and a horn that was blaring.

Men jumped from each of the three cars and advanced towards the house. Chell watched as Bert ran up to them, wringing his hands. No doubt he was attempting to explain her sudden disappearance. He pointed back at the house, and everyone went inside. They were probably going to look for her.

Fifteen minutes later, the door opened and Chell felt her heart sink. Three men were holding her Companion Cube, carrying it towards the large truck. _Oh God, I forgot it. Oh no, no, how could I forget? _She moved convulsively, biting her lip and kicking her feet. Reggie whined.

Chell's jumpsuit and tank top appeared next, being carried by a business-like woman. The back of the truck swung down, revealing a cavernous empty space. The Cube and her clothes were loaded inside, and the men and woman marched back towards the house, grim-faced.

There was a ringing in her ears. _They had left the Cube. _She had little to no chance of recovering it now, but still… she had to try, didn't she? She had promised the Cube that she wouldn't fail it. Letting it fall into the hands of these Scorptech people seemed like a failure to Chell.

She slipped out of the sacks and eyed the door of Janis and Bert's home. It remained closed, for now. Opening the door to the shed, she took a deep breath and bolted for the truck. Reggie was still alongside her, thankfully _not _barking.

With a jump, she succeeded in landing inside the truck. The Cube was crackling, and the sounds it was making sounded faintly like alarm bells. Chell wrapped her arms around it, trying in vain to comfort it. _I'll take care of you._

She heard the slam of a door and panic overtook her. The back of the truck was filled with tarp and equipment; it would be easy to hide amongst it. She bolted for what looked like a slot machine and dove behind it. Reggie was _still _with her, pressing his wet nose into her hand. Having the dog along was definitely a bad idea, but it was too late to bring him back. She could hear voices, and then the swish of the truck door slamming shut. She and Reggie and the Cube were trapped.

She moved out from her hiding place and back towards the Cube. They had secured it with rope to the wall, and it was still humming in alarm. Gently pushing Reggie away to prevent him from licking the Cube, she patted it again and again. Dimly, she registered the whirr of tires and the roar of the engine coming to life. With a shudder, the truck began to move.

Reggie barked, turning in circles. His barking could barely be heard over the roar of the moving truck; they were safe for now. She put her other hand to good use and petted him behind the ears. Comforting the Cube and the dog was a sort of comfort to Chell as well. As long as she could continue making them feel safe, things would be alright. _She _would be alright. As long as she could continue comforting her friends, she could ignore the fact that she was more scared than she'd ever been in her life.


End file.
